The famed Saint of
the Chistia Order was born at village Kahotwal in the district of
Multan in the year 569 Hijri. His father, Maulana Kamal Uddin,
belonged to the royal family of Kabul. Farrukh Adil shah, a
famous ruler of the dynasty, ruled over Kabul with dignity for a
long time. Maulana Kamal Uddin was a descendant of Umar Farouk
and had twenty of his ancestors in between. When Chingez Khan
directed his attention towards Kabul, he left the place and came
to Punjab and finally settled down in the village of Kahotwal of
Multan. His mother, Qarsam Khatun, was the daughter of a renowned
learned man. Hazrat Gang-e-Shakar was pious, God-fearing,
devoted, and a man of wondrous spiritual powers. His original
name was Masood Farid and Ganj-e-Shaker was titles.

Education

His mother was his
teacher who imbibed in him virtues of head and heart and made him
say his prayers regularly. He received his early education in
Kahotwal and later went to Multan for higher studies. Here he
learnt the Qu'Oran by heart and took lessons on Arabic. During
this period Hazrat Qutab-Uddin Bakhtiyar Ka'aki came to the
mosque to say his prayers were Baba Farid studied. He was busy in
the study of 'Nafey', a
book on Jurisprudence at the time. Hazrat Bakhtiyar Ka'aki said.
" Masood: What do you read?" He replied,
"Nafey," Hazrat Ka'aki said." Do you think, the
book Nafey will benefit you?" He replied, "No, I
beseech of your kindness". He raised and placed his head on
the feet of the Hazrat Ka'aki, who embraced him lovingly and
admitted him as his disciple. When the Qutab prepared to leave
for Delhi he requested him to accompany him but he instructed him
to complete his education and went to Delhi himself.

Baba Farid complied
with the wishes of his teacher and guide completed his studies of
usual subjects and turned out a great man of letters.

The travels

He started on a
journey to Ghazni, Baghdad, and Badakhshan and met the holy men
there. During this period he had the distinction of meeting
saints: Sheikh Shahab Uddin founder of the Suharawardy order,
Sheikh Saif-Uddin Khizri, Sheikh Syed Uddin Hamvi, Sheikh
Bahauddin Zakaria Multani, and Sheikh Farid Uddin Attar
Neshapuri, to name a few.

Arrives in Delhi

Having returned from
his travels abroad he reached Delhi to see his teacher and guide.
The Qutab received him warmly and put him up in a room out of the
Ghazni gate and started his intrinsic training. Baba Farid busied
himself in intense prayer and meditation.

Origin of the title
of Ganj-e-Shaker

Once Baba was
passing through a jungle. He was hot and thirsty. There was no
water around. At last he saw a well but there was neither bucket
nor rope to draw water. This dismayed him and he sat there. A
short while later a herd of deer's appeared at the well. The well
water rose upto the brim of the well. The deer's drank to their
fill. But when Baba Farid reached it the water lowered. He said
complaining to God," Am I inferior to the deer that water
came up for them but for me it went down?" He heard the
answer, "The deer depended upon us but you trusted the
bucket and rope. What to complain for now!"

Baba Farid realized
his mistake and felt ashamed he fasted, as penance, for 40 days.
On the last day, he had nothing to eat so that he might break the
fast. In the event he put a piece of clay in his mouth that
turned sugar. When news reached his teacher he exclaimed,
"Farid is a store-house of Sugar."

Once Baba Farid was
travelling. Some camel's laden with sugar passed before him. He
said to the Camel drivers, "What do you carry?" They
replied, Salt!" He said, "May it be salt! When the bags
were opened, they were found filled with salt. The camel drivers
were non-pulsed, came to him asked forgiveness. The Sheikh said,
"Go if it was sugar, it would be sugar". On their
return the camel drivers found that the bags were full of sugar.
The incidence received wide currency and Baba Farid came to be
known by the title 'Ganj-e-Shaker'

Prayers

For most of time he
remained busy in prayers and was so deeply engrossed in that he
lost touch of the world. During his stay in Delhi he grew so
weak, that once when Khawaja Moin-uddin Chisti came to see
Qutab-Uddin Bakhtiyar Ka'aki, and went to see Baba Farid in his
room, he could not stand to receive him. The Khawaja was moved
and blessed Baba Farid and gave him his dress. Hazrat,
Qutab-Uddin Ka'aki wrapped the turban, signifying the status of
his, spiritual heir, on his head with his hands. He became
extremely popular. People thronged to him. When crowds increased
he left Delhi for Hansi.

Self-sufficiency and
Fasting

He often remained
engrossed in prayers and meditation and kept fasts for most of
the time. His kitchen was symptoms and served the needs of the
poor and the hungry of the city. When time of, the breaking of
the fast approached, he ate the frungal he had at the time.

Stay in Hansi

From Delhi he went
to Hansi. Hearing the news of the demise of his teacher and guide
he returned to Delhi.

The relics of the
Teacher

Having listened to
the death of his teacher he returned to Delhi from Hansi and said
the Fatiha at the grave. Qazi Hamid Uddin Nagori then entrusted
him his teacher's relics robe of spiritual heir, the staff, the
sandals, prayer mat and etc in accordance to the wishes of the
deceased: Having taken the things and in order to continue the
divine work, he returned to Hansi.

His stay at Ajodhan
or Pak pattn

He engaged in the
service of the Faith whole heartily but the love of the people
was so overwhelming that it disturbed him. He left Hansi for Pak
pattan (formally named Ajodhan) in Punjab. The beggars and saints
were given scant respect in Pak pattan. People hated them and
treated disrespectfully. He thought it was the right place for
him. He laid his blanket away from human habitation and busied in
praying God but soon people started collecting around him.

When the number of
his followers increased he built a house for his dependants near
the Jama Majid, but continued to live at original site. His
popularity increased. The city Qazi grew envious of him and
obtained a sentence from the theologians against him but when
truth was revealed, he was acquitted of all charges. The city
Qazi was humiliated.

Propagation of the
Faith

His stay at Pak
pattan proved useful for the propagation of Islam. He did
marvelously in Punjab and Sindh and quite a large number of
people embarrassed Islam because of his attempts. Sultan
Ghayasuddin Balban was greatly impressed of his endeavors; He
gave away his daughter in marriage to him who bore him six sons.

Once an old woman
carried a pail of milk on her head. He called her and asked her
where she was taking the milk. She answered that there was a yogi
living nearby. If a thing demanded by him was not given to him it
turned to blood. The yogi waited for sometime and then sent his
disciple to Enquirer into the matter. The disciples saw her the
old women and called her names. When he exceeded beyond the
limits of decency Baba Farid asked him to be quiet. He lost his
power of speech. The yogi then sent another disciple and the same
occurred to him. Several of his disciples came and sat there
mute. In the end the yogi himself came and became furious with
the woman. Baba Farid ordered him to keep quiet and he too lost
his power of speech. Then the yogi realized his mistake and the
spiritual power of the Baba. With folded hands he begged
forgiveness. The Baba excused him on the condition that he would
not harass any person.

Books

He wrote and edited
several books. Sheikh Nizam Uddin, his follower and spiritual
heir, edited his articles into a book, Rahat-Ul-Quloob. The other
book Seair-ul-Auliya contains biographical articles and was
edited by his another disciple and heir, Badar Ishaq.